Canadiens 4, Canucks 2: Too little too late

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The Vancouver Canucks didn’t play all that badly Tuesday night. They just didn’t win the crucial moments.

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And that remains the story of the season.

Close, but far.

And they were once again exposed for their lack of speed by the Montreal Canadiens, who took home a fine 4-2 win.

The Canadiens are quick and have a fun set of forwards. They’re also the second-youngest squad in the league.

Will they top out as a true contender? Tough to say. But you can see the direction they’re trying to go.

The Canucks, on the other hand, remain stuck in neutral.

It’s tough to tell where they’re going to go. All we can see is a team that’s struggling to define itself still, six weeks after the departure of J.T. Miller.

We’re seeing more and more positive glimpses out of Elias Pettersson — he had seven shot attempts and a goal — but the team’s offence remains mostly lacking in edge.

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Every game now is a must-win, like Wednesday in Calgary. Absolute must-win.

That was a moment

Not long before the Habs scored their third goal of the game, Nils Höglander had a glorious chance off a brutal Montreal turnover.

He made a nifty play but didn’t score. That’s a chance, when you’re down 2-0, that you really need.

The rush

All three Montreal goals came on the rush. That realllllly stood out.

They came off turnovers. Off quick passes.

All left the Canucks scrambling to defend.

A factor again

The power play now has goals in three of four games.

There hasn’t been a lot right about the Canucks’ overall play this season, but lately the power play has been a factor.

Now if they could just find a way to get some five on five goals from a forward …

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The benched

A game after Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk were essentially benched, you knew all eyes would be on the Canucks’ stars.

And for his part, Pettersson was pretty excellent. At five on five, he was +22 in shot attempts.

That’s sheer dominance.

Make some noise?

Once again, a note about the Larscheiders.

When you have a game featuring a big opposing fan base, you sure could use some hometown fans who can keep the energy going all on their own.

Fans respond better to that than simply being told to “Make. Some. Noiseeeeee.”

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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